161: Rocio Cortez: Performance Over Aesthetics and Why It's Never Too Late to Start

Rocio Cortez had never played a sport. She'd never been in a weight room. At 27 she walked into a jujitsu gym, and three and a half years later she's training wrestling, striking, MMA and Muay Thai, and she's competed at Apex twice.The number that matters in this conversation is not the 275-pound deadlift she pulled at a bodyweight of 119. It's three and a half years. That's how long it took to build the body she has now, and she never once trained for it directly. She trained to get faster, to jump higher, to get stronger. The body followed.Tara and Rocio get honest about what that stretch actually felt like: the days she took progress photos and hated them, the clothes that stopped fitting, the body dysmorphia that showed up right as she was making her best gains.In this episode:Why the people you train around change what you believe is possible for youHow to build a circle when you're the shy one in the cornerGrieving friendships that fade when your lifestyle changes, and why the real ones modify the hangout insteadStarting at 27, and how Rocio stopped mourning the years she didn't trainWhat actually makes you an athlete, and why Tara says you don't have to compete to be oneWhy being a beginner is an advantage, not a liabilityTraining for performance and letting the body sort itself out103 pounds to 120: learning to use a body that's changedDiet culture, double zero pants, and 100 crunches before bedInjury, warming up, and why pushing through isn't a planStarting martial arts as a woman when the room is mostly menHow to know you're progressing when the weight on the bar has stalledScreen time, comparison, and curating a feed that doesn't cost you anythingTimestamps:00:42 Welcome to Broads01:35 You are who you surround yourself with04:24 Building your five people07:11 When friendships fade09:53 Starting at 27 and grieving lost time13:00 What makes you an athlete14:41 Why Rocio likes being a beginner18:02 Where the intimidation actually comes from21:18 Training for performance, and the body that followed23:40 Diet culture and high school25:26 103 to 12027:16 Injuries and the machismo mindset29:09 Being a woman in a male-dominated sport30:18 How to start jujitsu when you're intimidated32:31 "I work out but I don't look like I work out"33:20 Three and a half years of reps35:44 Progress when the weight stalls37:25 Perfectionism, imposter syndrome and screen time42:34 Curating who you follow44:36 For the woman focused on how she looks46:53 Get a coachConnect with Rocio:https://www.instagram.com/rockin_rocio/https://www.rociocortez.com/Learn more about Broads: www.broads.app